


Precious Prodigy Peter Parker

by concreteflour



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Genius Peter Parker, will add as we go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-18 12:49:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21711016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/concreteflour/pseuds/concreteflour
Summary: A 5 + 2 of our genius Peter Parker.  This will be for the people around him who realize how smart the young man is.
Relationships: Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 52
Kudos: 930
Collections: All Your (and My) Capable Smart BAMF Peter Parker Needs, ellie marvel fics - read





	1. Too smart for a school of geniuses

**Author's Note:**

> Of course, I don't own any part of the Marvel universe, or Disney. This is just part of the Spidey universe a I see it. I hope you enjoy

“Cheating?” exclaimed a very confused Principal Morita, as he opened the door for one of his teachers.

  


“Not exactly, and I thank you for taking the time to see me,” said Brenda Williams, Midtown School for Science and Technology resident Chemistry instructor.

  


“Yes, yes, but now I am confused,” said the principal, “the note that Ms. Gray left on my desk said you were concerned about cheating students.”

  


“I am concerned about cheating, but not in that way. For the first time in my career, I believe I am cheating a student,” replied the teacher.

  


“Still confused.”

  


“You know Peter Parker?”

  


“Of course. A very good student with only slight disciplinary problems, late for class, excessive absences, and more often than not, asleep in class. I can’t believe that he would be cheating,” the principal said. 

  


“Let me explain,” said Ms. Williams. “In all the years I’ve taught here, the favorite thing I’ve known, is to watch the light of understanding come on for one of my students, or to help someone who is having difficulty with chemistry, to “get it”. There are enough difficult areas in our course, and remember, it’s an AP course, that everyone at least has something to work through. At least until I’ve met Mr. Parker. For lack of a better word, he’s bored. Like this course is beneath him. And it is, I don’t know how, but it is. He is currently the top student in the class with 106%.”

  


“Even more confused,” the principal said with a lift of his eyebrows, “if he is doing that good, how can it be you’re cheating him? You should be proud of how well one of your students is doing.”

  


“Let me show you something,” and Ms. Williams reached into the folder she had brought with her. “This is the test Peter took two weeks ago. As you can see, he scored 110%, everything perfect with two bonus questions.”

  


“But you’ve said he was the best student; shouldn’t he be doing well?” Mr. Morita asked.

  


“He should, but the problem is that while all his classmates took a test over what we had just covered, this test is for the material we will cover next semester. We haven’t even started on this part of the program yet.”

  


“Why did you do that?’ Morita asked.

  


“I wanted to see where he was at, academically. I think you agree he shouldn’t have gotten a perfect score on something he shouldn’t even have seen. If he would have struggled, I would have said the test got mixed in by mistake. But that’s only the beginning,” Ms. Williams paused.

  


“Do I want to know?” asked the principal.

  


A chuckle escaped from the chemistry teacher. “Well, I have bent the rules a bit, but only on behalf of my student. I gave another test yesterday.” Ms. Williams pulled out another test. “Peter had a different test than everyone else. Actually, he took a test I had when I was well into my master’s program at NYU. There is no way he should have even understood what was on the page let alone be able to work out the needed processes. This wasn’t just chemical equations and balancing formulas, this was identifying processes to develop compounds, with catalysts, and the many steps to formulate an end state compound from other starting points.”

  


“Let me guess, he did well?”

  


A sigh. “He did better than I did after 5 years of college. Two of the processes he used I had to look up and check on. One is a part of what is probably going to be the Nobel winner this year. How would he even know that? The other is something I couldn’t even find, but the basic reaction is sound, and the possibility of a shorter reaction process is intriguing. There is NO WAY a sophomore can have that type of knowledge. He was even the first one done with the test! HELL, pardon me, but he could teach my class and I could learn from him. So, if I say someone is cheating, it’s me. There is no way I can effectively teach him anything, and I am just wasting his time. But I want to know how he could get to this level so young.”

  


“What are you recommending?”

  


“We need to find out where he at academically and adjust his curriculum accordingly, or skip him a grade, or two, or seven. Whatever it takes. If he even has a part of the ability that he seems to, we are wasting his life here. What could he accomplish if he is given the tools to learn properly? What good could Peter Parker do if he had the ability?”

  


“Where do you think he has gotten the knowledge?” asked the Principal.

  


“I don’t know! I’ve heard talk that he has an internship with Stark Industries, but others say he doesn’t. But even if he did, how could he be getting this level of education off an internship? You’re supposed to make coffee and copy papers, not develop new chemical processes!”

  


Principal Morita rubbed a hand over his chin. “I know he has some paperwork that says he has an internship, and yes, it’s with SI, but it’s in no way complete. It is something I should probably follow up on.”

  


“Maybe he’s spending all night reading textbooks? That could be why he sleeps in class. He’s so reserved he probably has no sort of life outside of school, SI notwithstanding. He’d need access to a university style lab to even begin to understand the dynamics of the chemical reactions he has described. He’d have to be working with experienced lab professionals to understand the process. I’ve seen him in the cafeteria, by himself or with the Computer Porn kid, something Leeds, I think. They don’t appear to be socially active with their peers.”

  


“I believe you’re right. Peter is reserved. The only frequent interactions he has is a very small group of friends and some interactions with Flash Thompson. Those are problematic because it appears Thompson is bullying Parker, but several witnesses, including teachers, often put Parker as butting into a conversation Thompson is having with other underclassmen. It seems out of character for Parker, and it gives Thompson just enough rationale to avoid being labeled as starting something with Parker. It’s not out of character for Thompson to be overtly aggressive, but it is out of character for Parker to step into the limelight. It seems I have the two of them in my office every other week or so. I think I need to investigate that also.”

  


“Well,” said the chemistry teacher, “whatever we can do, we need to find out where Peter is academically and what we can do to move him along. I can’t be the teacher that didn’t help my student.”

  


Principal Morita rubbed his chin again, “Let me ask around to the other teachers and see if they have any similar thoughts on Mr. Parker or if it unique to chemistry. Then we can see where we will go from there. Sound okay?”

  


“That sounds really good,” Ms. Williams smiled in reply, “anything that will help solve the mystery of Peter Parker is okay with me.”


	2. Tony's Lab, with a Guest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets to meet a science Hero, but who ends up more impressed?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still don't own anyone. And I know in canon, this didn't happen, but in my Spidey world, it does!

Ned and Peter were just coming out of Midtown School of Science and Technology on a Friday afternoon. MJ was already on the front steps. 

“Hey Loser,” MJ said, “I think your ride is here,” she finished while pointing out to the curb directly in front of the school. 

Both of the guys heads swiveled in that direction. A black Audi, with fully tinted windows, was prominently displayed. But even more audacious was Tony Stark, in matching fully tinted sunglasses and Black Armani suit, leaning up against the driver’s door. 

The press of kids trying to exit the school stopped and gawked and the man before them. This was a school of science and technology. Tony Stark represented the pinnacle of most of their dreams in being able to bring science to life. 

Tony was the first to move. “Hey Pete, come on. We’ve got a big weekend planned!” 

Ned put his hand on Peter’s shoulder, “Man, I would give anything for your life.” 

Peter just smiled and hurried down to the car. He hollered, “See you later Ned, have a good weekend MJ,” as he sprinted down the steps. Almost before he got his door shut, the Audi was moving. 

“Got a surprise for you today kiddo,” said Mr. Stark. 

“Oh,” Peter said excitedly, “what is it?” 

“Now, if I told you that, it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?” 

“Aww, come on Mr. Stark, you can’t do that. A teenager is really bad these days when they’re surprised.” 

“Nope, this one is going to be too good.” 

After parking the Audi in the garage, Tony led Peter up to his private lab, just as Peter expected. What he didn’t expect was for someone to be in the lab. Nobody was ever in Tony’s lab, except for Tony, Peter, occasionally Rhodey, and when they were really in trouble, Pepper. 

The man in a white lab coat turned around as the vacuum sealed door whooshed open. Peter froze in his steps. “OMG, YOU’RE BRUCE BANNER!” 

“Yes,” sighed the man, “I’m the Hu..” 

“YOU’RE THE MOST REKNOWNED SCIENTIST OF OUR AGE! WOW! I GET TO MEET BRUCE BANNER!” 

Tony laughed, “Pete, I knew you were going to fan boy, but try to breath, and not pass out, okay?” 

“But Tony, Dr. Banner is the pre-eminent researcher for both nuclear physics and gamma radiation!” Peter turned to face Dr. Banner, “I’ve read all your papers, I just have a million questions. Please Dr. Banner?” 

What followed was over two hours of relentless questioning by a high school sophomore to someone with two PhD’s. Dr. Banner couldn’t help but smile, as he rarely got to talk about his non-Hulk life anymore. Peter rapid fired questions about biomedical conversion of the gamma particles, matter/energy conversion from the 180 pound Dr. Banner to the 400 pound Hulk, and what provided the energy. Did Hulk have to supply the energy or was it some form of matter/energy/matter conversion? Did Hulk absorb energy from around him, did that provide power to further heighten his invulnerability? Since Hulk was able to speak English, their had to be some transference of knowledge between the two, was Dr. Banner able to measure the strength and depth of any link? 

“Hey, Pete. You know I’m right here, right?” Tony said. “You have never spazzed out this much since you met me.” 

“But Mr. Stark, I get to work with you every week, but I’m getting to actually meet Dr. Banner for the first time. And for the record, I did fanboy out on you the first time we met, you just didn’t know it at the time. It was years before you think we met.” 

“I’m confused. We met when I tracked you down, at your place in Queens,” Tony said with a pinched painful look. 

“I first met you at the Stark Expo nine years ago. The time the Hammerdrones attacked. I was about to blast a drone when you showed up.” 

Tony had his eyes pinched shut, while he tried to remember. “You wore an Iron-Man mask? That was you?” 

“Yeah, you blasted a drone that had me targeted.” 

“Oh my God,” Tony said. “I can literally trace my first gray hair to that moment. You really are going to be the death of me, you know that kiddo?” 

“Plus, I have fanboyed a lot since then, just ask Aunt May,” Peter said. 

“Nope, the less conversations I have with Aunt Hottie, the better. She scares me,” Tony replied. 

Bruce chuckled, “You’re scared of his Aunt?” 

“Brucie Baby, she would even scare your other guy.” 

Before too long, it was time for Peter to head home for the night. Happy was going to drive him home. 

Tony and Bruce went up for a cup of coffee and to unwind a bit. 

Bruce held his steaming cup and turned to Tony, “Tony, just how smart is that kid.” 

“Genius l’m pretty sure. Obviously, I haven’t had a chance to test him. Hell, I don’t even know of a test that could.” 

“There might not be,” Bruce said, rubbing his chin. “He was asking me questions I never would have considered at his age. Heck, I wouldn’t have considered some of those in my graduate courses. Is Gamma Radiation or Bio-Medical engineering his chosen field?” 

“You know what? I don’t know. I was impressed with the kid at first because he made up the spider webs he developed for Spider-Man. I still haven’t fully improved on those. But thinking about it, he has worked on Nat’s Spider-Bites, designed new arrow heads for Clint and helped me with my suit. I don’t really know what his favorite is, and he is good at everything. I mean, that covers chemistry, electronics, engineering, metallurgy, plus what he works on in his own lab when I’m not here.” 

“The kid has his own lab?” Bruce asked incredulous. 

“Yeah, for his own projects and to keep him out of my lab when I’m not here.” 

Bruce stared at Tony, “I’ve always had to share with you, I’ve never gotten my own lab!” 

“The kid is here three days a week or more, you’re here a few times a year sometimes.” 

“Do you have any idea what he works on when you’re not here?” 

“Ah, not really, but FRIDAY keeps track of everything and wouldn’t allow anything overtly dangerous to go on. Right FRIDAY?”

“Yes, Boss. I am most diligent in observing the safety rules of the labs when Mr. Parker is here.” 

“See Bruce, it’s all good,” Tony said with a grin. 

Bruce turned to look at the ceiling, “FRIDAY, do you have a list of the projects that Peter is working on?” 

Banner,” FRIDAY replied, “Peter currently has one hundred and thirty-eight projects in various stages of completion. Would you like to see a list?” 

Even before they could reply, a list generated on a screen FRIDAY made holographically. Automatically, both men started scrolling through the list. 

“Look at this, that’s DNA mapping, and sequencing of genetic material.” Bruce started, “And this is different ways to combine vibranium. And this is definitely power conversion rates for some kind of a storage device that I’ve never seen.” 

“Yeah, and this looks like at least fourteen upgrades to the programing for KAREN, Some really interesting upgrades actually. FRIDAY, have these been installed already?” 

“Nine of the KAREN upgrades have been tested and installed Boss.” 

”Who’s KAREN?” Bruce asked. 

”KAREN is an AI I developed to help Spider-Man. He’s a local enhanced vigilante that I have worked with a few times,” Tony replied. 

It was Tony’s turn to rub his chin, “Any issues with performance, FRIDAY?” 

“The actual performance of the integration of Spider-Man and KAREN has reduced response time by fifteen percent and compatibility by twenty-seven percent. KAREN is able to more accurately predict requests from Spider-Man based on his prior situations and have choices available sometimes even before Spider-Man can ask.” 

Tony turned between Bruce and the ceiling, “Why haven’t you kept me informed FRIDAY?” 

“Sir”, FRIDAY replied, with a hint of remorse, “I was instructed to monitor for unsafe practices and for any projects that were inherently dangerous. None of Mr. Parker’s projects are, by themselves, dangerous. His safety protocols are sufficient, and he provides pre-planning for eventual accidents, which occur fully thirty percent less than accidents in the main lab, and he has worked well with Dum-E to quickly resolve any accident.” 

“Dum-E helps him too?” Tony asked. 

“Yes sir, your robots seem to be very anxious to help Mr. Parker when he is here. In particular, Dum-E is extraordinarily observant and helpful with any project that Mr. Parker is working on.” 

“This is the same Dum-E that filled the Porsche up with liquid foam when I sparked the fuse box last week?” Tony asked

“Yes sir.” 

Bruce was openly laughing now. “Tony, I think you have a little Tony working with you and you didn’t even know it. How’s it feel to be on the other side of all that brilliance?” 

“I think I need to find out just how smart the Kid is, and quick.” 


	3. Training Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha, Steve, and Clint in the training room with Peter.

Spider-Man was twisting and turning through the air like his life depended on it. And in a way it did. Today’s training session set Peter against two former assassins and the world’s first super soldier. Spider-Man completed his flip and landed on the wall of the training room, sixteen feet off the ground. As soon as his feet hit, he sprang in another direction as his Spider-senses detected danger approaching. Less than a second after he vacated that spot, an arrow let loose webbing just before it impacted the wall.

“No!” complained Clint, AKA Hawkeye, as yet another of his arrows missed the target. “It’s not fair! He shouldn’t have even seen that coming!” 

“Arrows are easy”, said Peter, “they’re only going 350 feet a second. A machine gun takes real concentration.” As he said this, he jumped to avoid Cap’s shield, which clanged and rebounded off the wall. At the moment of rebound and still in transit to another wall, Spider-Man shot out a web that attached to the shield and he threw it at the ceiling, where another set of webs held it in place. 

Rolling backward, and tucking his legs up into Cap’s chest, he catapulted the super soldier in the direction the Black Widow was approaching from, slowing her advance and giving Peter time to elevate to a position out of her reach. 

Another arrow wasted itself against the training room wall just before the bow itself was covered in sticky webs, rendering it useless. 

The training had been going on for over 45 minutes. No one as yet had gotten a serious shot at their opponent. None of the Avengers had slowed down Spider-Man, and other than some webbing, he hadn’t hit them. 

“That’s it. That’s all for now.” 

Everyone relaxed, with Peter standing upside down from the ceiling. With a practiced flip, he let go (with his feet) and landed softly on the floor. 

But Peter, you’re not giving us your best shots back. That is minimizing the positions you put yourself in, when you’re in a complete defensive mode. We’ve all watched you take down criminals, and you don’t have any problem missing it up with them. Why won’t you with us?” 

“Well,” Pete started, “it’s difficult. I am spending so much energy in defense, that if I were to slip even a little bit when I hit someone like Aunt Nat or Uncle Clint, I could seriously hurt them. You, Captain America, could probably shake off a good hit from me, but they aren’t enhanced. What if I hurt them?” 

“That’s why we need you to attack,” Cap said, “We need you to be able to focus on multiple things at once, not only your infernal spider-sense but the people you are fighting too. Think of it this way, you’ve got eight bad guys lined up and you know number four is super strong. You need to be able to regulate your strength on all the rest but still present yourself as a threat to the enhanced criminal. Does that make sense?” 

“Yeah, it does,” answered Peter. “It’d be easier if it wasn’t Aunt Nat and Uncle Clint. I don’t want to hurt them by accident.” 

Natasha spoke up, “All the better reason to practice trying it.” 

Captain America nodded his head, “We need the practice too you know. We need to practice against every special power we can so when we see something similar in the field, we can be ready.” 

“Which reminds me,” Nat said, “How feasible would it be for us to be able to learn to operate your webs? It would be a great advantage if we could use them to swing down from somewhere high, both for surprise or escape.” 

Peter pulled off his mask and rubbed his face. “I don’t think that would help.” 

“Why not, it seems easy enough to do,” asked the Black Widow. 

“There’s actually quite a lot that goes into it. But the simple answer is brute strength. At the bottom of a swing with a diameter of one hundred feet, you have a load on your system of almost 4g or four times your weight. For Clint the would be 800 pounds of forces and your hands and shoulders. Uncle Steve might be able to withstand the force, but it would be difficult for anyone else. Plus there are some other considerations.” 

“Like what?” asked Cap. 

“Well, It is difficult, especially at the beginning to know where to put your next web. You have all seen my early videos on YouTube and seen some of my, less than glorious landings. I have found that as maybe a part of my spider-sense I have acute spatial awareness, knowing where the walls, sign posts, ceilings, are around me. That and two other things Mr. Stark has helped me define. The first is Kinesthesia, a kind of awareness of movement between me and my surroundings. The second is proprioception, where I have the ability to know exactly where my hands, feet, or limbs are at any moment.” 

“Is that like your accursed spider-sense,” Clint said from behind Peter. “It’s not really fair…”

While still looking forward at Natasha and Steve, Peter flipped his wrist over and let loose a ‘thwip’. A well place web adhered itself over Clint’s mouth before he could finish that statement. 

“That explains your accuracy, I have wondered about that,” Steve said. 

Peter nodded, “For placing the webs yes. But just as important is planning the next several. Um, to avoid the bad landings. You need to utilize vector analysis to understand where you will be with the web you just started swinging on and where the next one will take you. Each anchor point is only a quick route to the side of a building or the ground if you don’t plan ahead. Since I hardly ever can swing in a straight line toward my objective, it’s a series of left and right angles to get where I need to go. One error in my computation, and I go Splat into the side of Macy’s. And another YouTube video becomes famous.” 

Natasha looked at the young man seriously, “I know Tony has his suit to help him fly, but how can you do that while dodging Clint’s, nice shot there by the way, arrows?” 

Peter laughed, “Lots of practice and way too many SPLATS! Luckily, physics and math come pretty easy, so it’s actually fun to figure out. This may sound funny, but it actually helps me relax. If you haven’t noticed most of the bad guys are bigger than me!” 

Steve was shaking his head. “Okay guys, let’s head to the showers and get some dinner.” 

Peter’s eyes lit up at the thought of food, and he was first one out the door. 

Clint walked over to them, finally able to get the webbing off his mouth, most of it anyway. “I don’t know about you guys, but I wouldn’t want to fight him. That little squirt moves like nothing I’ve ever seen and avoids everything I try to do.” He held up his bow, still covered in thick webbing. “How long before this stuff dissolves?” 

Nat ignored him. “The kid is right, darn it. I would love to be able to utilize his webs. Cap, you might be the only one of us that could, even Tony in his suit isn’t flexible enough.” 

“No, I couldn’t either,” said Steve. “That kid gives Tony a run for pure smarts. I wouldn’t even try to do extended swings like he does. In the middle of a battle, trying to figure the, what did he say? Vector analysis? Nope, my schooling was 75 years ago, and it didn’t get that far. We are going to find a way to get him more aggressive. I want to see him taking the offensive in these trainings.” 

Clint groaned, “I have a feeling that is going to hurt.” 

The three Avengers left the training room. 

Natasha stopped and pointed to the ceiling, “Cap, aren’t you forgetting something?” 

“Nah, when I see the webs dissolve off Clint’s bow, I know I can come pick my shield up off the floor.” 


	4. A new arm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter designs a new arm for the Ex-Winter Soldier.

A week after the training room session, Steve was leading Bucky down to the lab area.

A very nervous Bucky followed behind, head swiveling as fast as he could. “Are you sure this is safe, you know Stark doesn’t want me down here’” 

Steve nodded, “It’s okay, Tony’s in Hong Kong. It’s Peter that is going to work on your arm today.” 

“That squirt?” exclaimed Bucky. “He’s just Stark’s intern, isn’t he? He can’t mess with the arm. It took Shuri months to fine tune this.” 

“Don’t worry,” Steve said, “I believe you’ll be in good hands. I think Peter is up there in the same league as Shuri and Tony. Let’s at least give him a chance, okay?” 

Bucky reluctantly nodded, and they finished the short walk to the lab. Peter had the door open for them to enter. 

“Thank you for coming Sergeant Barnes. I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can do to improve your prosthesis. I have a lot of great ideas. I think it will be really super when we’re done.” Of course it didn’t really sound like that, since it actually came across as: “ThankyouforcomingSergeantBarnes.I’mreallylookingforwardtoseeingwhatwecandotoimproveyourprosthesis.Ihavealotofgreatideas.Ithinkitwillbereallysuperwhenwe’redone.” 

Bucky actually looked afraid, while Steve grinned. It didn’t matter though, because, with Steve’s pushing, Bucky allowed himself to be placed in a chair next to a worktable. 

Peter started by taking a hundred measurements, length and circumferences, width of each band in the individual segments, each while giving a running list of how impressed he was with Shuri’s work. By the time Peter got around to actually disconnecting the arm from Bucky’s neural interface, the ex-Winter Soldier was internally laughing. The kid reminded him of the constant chatter a young Steve Rogers would spout while they were growing up. Definitely not on any subjects like comparative metallurgy or the ‘plastic deformation versus brittle fracture’ of a material. 

A little over an hour later, Bucky was all reassembled and he and Steve were headed upstairs. 

“Does that kid ever shut up?” Bucky asked. 

“You’re still upset about Berlin,” Steve replied. 

“Well, yeah. It’s tough to find out a 12-year-old glued me to a wall,” came Bucky’s indignant reply. 

“Well, I’m finding out there’s more to that young kid than I thought. He might be as smart as Tony. Did you even listen to what he had planned for you?” 

“Ahh, I kinda got lost shortly after he started. I haven’t had a punk like that to listen to in a long time, since you were about two feet shorter.” 

“Well,” said Steve, “Tomorrow, when we come back, you might just be in for a surprise.” 

Peter spent the night in the lab. He already had complete diagnostics of at least this version of Bucky’s are, as well as some examples of other versions. He had several upgrades planned and already mapped out, just needing to make sure the neural interface would support the changes. He directed 

FRIDAY to make the changes to the next version of Bucky’s arm as he worked his way through the process. The AI tirelessly followed Peter’s commands late into the following morning, only stopping when the AI noted Peter’s blood sugar starting to drop. It was time for more food. Peter finally got to bed about nine am. 

That afternoon, Steve again led Bucky down to the lab. This time Bucky wasn’t quite as nervous. The open threat of Stark was somewhat lessened with the friendliness of Peter. 

Again, Bucky was put into the chair. Peter started a non-stop running dialog of what he had improved. Bucky only caught about a third of it, and not enough to make sense of it all. 

Only ten minutes after his arm came off, a new arm took its place. Bucky looked down at the lump where his other arm had been, the one that responded to his every whim, and nothing. 

“I don’t feel anything.,” Bucky said. 

“Please Sergeant Barnes, give it a minute, there are software upgrades as well as hardware. A reboot of the neural interface is required to link the processors in the right order.” 

Bucky looked over to Steve. “Did you catch any of that?” 

Steve laughed. “He said let it warm up before you put it into gear.” 

“Why didn’t he say that then?” 

“Because, Buck, smart people use bigger words and more of them. Look at Banner, Stark, and even your friend Shuri. None of them say two words when twenty is possible.” 

Peter was looking a set of computer readouts from a cable plugged into Bucky’s arm. “Okay, the reboot is all complete, we can try it out now.” And he unplugged the wire from the arm. 

Cautiously, Bucky started to raise his arm. His face had a look of doubt on it. It slowly faded as he put more and more range of motion on his arm. “Hey, kid, that’s pretty good. It feels smoother than the last arm.” 

Peter was watching him intently. “That’s great. Can I get you to put you arm in front of you, like in a blocking maneuver?” 

“Okay,” and Bucky swung his arm in front of his body. 

“Now try saying this: Deploy shield!” Peter said. 

“Ah, Okay. Deploy Shield.” As soon as the last syllable had been uttered, a five inch slightly curved piece of vibranium slid out of both sides of Bucky’s forearm. The effect tripled the size of the metal covering his chest, greatly increasing the protection the arm afforded. “Wow!, That’s neat!” 

“Try saying retract shield.” 

“Retract shield.” And the shield slid back into place. “Wow!” 

“That’s not the best feature, come over here.” Peter said. Out of his pocket he took a dime and placed it on top of the lab table. “Go ahead and pick that up.” 

“I can’t. The vibranium fingertips don’t allow me to have that fine of control. I have to use my real hand to do that.” 

“Just try for me please.” 

Bucky sighed and reached his new arm toward the top of the table. As his fingers made contact with the metal surface his eyes got really big and he froze. “Hey! I can feel that! Steve! I can feel the table!” he continued his fingers along the table until they came to the dime, and deftly picked it up between two fingers. “I did it! I picked up a dime! I never thought that was possible. I can feel it between my fingertips. I can feel the serrated edges. This is impossible!” 

Bucky turned to the young man who was all smiles now. “How? How did you manage to do this, it’s impossible!” 

“I overlaid a vibranium mesh with a rubber thermoplastic that contain a sensory net tied into your neural implant. It gives you at least the feeling in the fingertips, without losing that much structural integrity. It may need to be replaced more often, but the advantages should outweigh the risks.” 

“I don’t care about the risks! This is fantastic! I can feel again! I just picked up a dime! Steve, did you see that? I picked up a dime!” 

”Yes, Bucky, I saw you pick up the dime. Now I think it’s time you picked up a check. I think you owe our inventor here a nice dinner. I think he’s earned it.” 

“And he’ll get it. This is much better than Stark or even Shuri ever did. This is great. Dinner ‘s on me! Let’s go” 

They all left the lab and headed out to find something to eat. 

“Ah, Steve,” Bucky said contritely, ”I’m a little short, would you be able to spot me some cash?” 


	5. Stark Industries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The teachers meet with Pepper Potts.

As the bell rang ending fifth period at Midtown School of Science and Technology, Principal Morita was standing outside the door of the Chemistry class. He smiled as the students walked out and, mostly, ignored their comments. Comments like: “Oh, Ms. Williams in trouble!” or “who do you think he’s after?” Morita smiled, that is what the PA system was for, he didn’t have to chase down a student. He had them come to him.

He was in fact here to see the teacher. As the last student left, he entered the classroom and saw Ms. Williams straightening up the papers on her desk. She looked as he came up to her desk. “I have some news for you, Ms. Williams. You were so perplexed by the apparent complexity of Mr. Parker’s education, and his internship, I have arranged for you and me to do a review of his duties with Stark Industries.” 

“What do you mean? Actually going to Stark Industries, or just getting them to send us his duties?” asked Ms. Williams. 

“You and I have a meeting with the head of the Intern department tomorrow at nine am.” 

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” said Ms. Williams, “but why are we both going?” 

“Well,” answered the Principal, “I will be the most useful for the paperwork side of things, and you will be able to give a good representation for the science side of things. Oh, and you don’t think I would want to miss out on seeing the inside of the Stark Tower now do you?” 

“Do you think we’ll even get past the lobby? I’ve all kinds of stories about how tough the security is there,” Ms. Williams asked. 

“I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.” 

The head of the Intern Department contacted Pepper Potts, eventually. It had to go through four layers of underlings before it got to the CEO. It seems that a school was doing a review on Peter Parker’s internship, and although the internship was noted in the SI files, it had no information at all about his duties. The head Intern was off course familiar with Peter, just about everyone in research was by this point. But because he primarily worked with Tony Stark himself, there was very little in the files about what he was supposed to be doing. This was a problem because the school was coming tomorrow to check up on the internship. 

Pepper returned a call to the head of the Interns, “Mr. Shupp, you have some questions about Peter Parker?” 

“Yes, Ms. Potts. Even though we have worked with Peter in the labs, we don’t have any written job description for him. In fact, most of his intern file is missing or not filled in correctly. We have a meeting with representatives from his school at nine am tomorrow.” 

“Okay, the paperwork we can figure out. I do have a question however about everyone working with Peter. It was my understanding that he only worked with Tony in the upper lab?” 

“Well,” Mr. Shupp frowned, “that used to be true. However, Tony is gone a lot and the lab directors discovered, almost by accident, how helpful Peter could be. So, they have been utilizing him every time Tony is out of the building and Peter is here.” 

“For what projects and how much time in aggregate?” 

“I’m afraid it includes projects all up and down the line. Peter has actually become a favorite. It seems the first time you tell him about a project, he listens intently, the second time, he asks great questions, and by the third time, he knows as much as the person working on the project. He has become a talisman of sorts for everyone. We can actually say we have increased efficiency over twenty-five percent because of his help.” 

“Why haven’t you gone to Tony with your questions?” asked a very serious Pepper Potts. 

Mr. Shupp shuffled his feet. “Most of the interns are scared of Mr. Stark, and…”

“And?” Pepper repeated. 

“Well, Mr. Stark is the absolute best in his field, but he can be demeaning sometimes to those he feels are inferior. But Peter seems to go across several educational lines, from engineering to biology to physics. And he is recognized as one of the best chemists here, and we have a Nobel Laureate on the staff!” He said this with his head bowed, just in case the famous Pepper Potts anger might reach out to take his head. 

She just nodded. “I can see your point on Tony. Lord knows the trials I have had. But, how could anyone, especially a high schooler, keep up with the SI staff?” 

“None of us know! It’s the leading topic for lunchroom conversation. What is the next thing that Peter will rock us with? Anymore, he is not even keeping up with us, we are trying to keep up with him!” 

Pepper turned and looked up to the ceiling. “FRIDAY, would you please prepare all the paperwork for Peter’s internship, with the caveat of working with Tony Stark, and as needed with other Lab Directors. Then messenger that over for May Parker, and Peter to sign tonight, and have it messengered back here for Tony’s, no, better yet, my signature.” 

“Right away Ms. Potts,” came the reply. 

“Also, prepare some rather extensive NDA’s for tomorrow. I have a feeling the school people will be getting an eye-full.” Pepper turned her attention back to Mr. Shupp. Would you please work with FRIDAY and get me a list of all the projects Peter has worked or is working on, including those with Tony and on his own? I will need that in the morning too.” 

Mr. Shupp bobbed his head, “I will get right on it.” He started to turn away and then paused, “You will need? Does that mean you will be meeting with the school officials?” 

“No. It means WE will be meeting with the school officials. Let’s meet at eight am to go over the paperwork.” She looked back up to the ceiling, “FRIDAY, that means I need to have my schedule cleared for the morning.” 

“Right away Big Boss Lady,” came the AI’s reply. 

Mr. Shupp worked late into the night. But at eight am sharp, he was in front of Ms. Potts office with a thick notebook of paper. She had on her desk all the signed documents needed for the internship, by both SI staff and May Parker. Pepper had actually had quite a good conversation with May the night before. Pepper never understood the weird dynamic between Tony and May. She always thought May was one of the nicest people on earth. But then again, she would have to be, to raise such a wonderful young man like Peter. 

By eight-forty-five, Pepper had a good handle on all of Peter’s activities. She figured the school would be here two to three hours going over what should normally be fifteen minutes worth of paperwork. The rest of the time would be trying to explain the extraordinary events around Peter. That meant by noon, she should be done with step one. She had FRIDAY clear all of Tony’s schedule for the afternoon and lock out the private labs for the day. Tony couldn’t be aware of what was going on, and that was going to change right away. 

At nine am sharp, a smartly dressed Pepper Potts and a slight bedraggled Mr. Shupp met the two school officials in the lobby of Stark Industries. After a quick security check, they were led to a conference room on the second level. To say the two people from the school were confused was a huge understatement. They expected the low level conference room, but never expected to even see someone as high up as Pepper Potts, let alone meet with her. 

Pepper started things off, “Thank you for coming down here today. I apologize that our paperwork in regard to Mr. Parker is not up to our usual level.” She laid a thick pile of papers down and pushed them across the table. “You should find that everything is there is correct.” 

The Principal pulled the papers in and started to review them. Ms. Williams shyly raised her hand. 

Pepper smiled, “Please, you don’t have to raise your hand here.” 

Turning red, Ms. Williams spoke, “It wasn’t only about the paperwork we came here today.” 

“Is there another problem?” 

“Yes,” stammered the teacher, “Or no, not really a problem. You see, I’m Peter’s chemistry teacher. I have never had such an exceptional student who is so far advanced in any class. And it’s not only in my class, in all of his science courses, Peter is destroying the curve. As teachers we can realize the outstanding student, but his level of comprehension is unheard of. He has to be getting his lessons somewhere else.” 

“I see,” Pepper said. She looked over to the head of the interns and he slid two more packets of papers toward the school staff. “These are Non-Disclosure Agreements. Before we go any farther, or show you anymore, we must insist you sign these, for not only SI security but for Peter’s privacy.” 

They both accepted the proffered pens and signed on the appropriate lines. 

When both forms were slid back to the head of the interns, Pepper took a deep breath and sat down opposite the two from Midtown. “In a way, I need to thank you. Your request started a chain of events that has really opened our, or I should say my eyes. Peter was brought on to work with Tony Stark, that was true. For some reason, the two of them clicked personality wise. The old bachelor and the wise-cracking teenager. Tony thought that Peter was a big secret. But it’s hard to keep a secret like Peter, someone who is friendly, engaging, and curious. It seems it took only once when Tony was away for some ‘others’ to be corrupted into using Peter for their own projects. This was brought to my attention last night. I have still not been able to wrap my head around it all. You are invited to go with me this morning to visit these other projects and make sense of it all. Be aware, some of the people involved, especially me, may not be very happy with all the results of our fact-finding tour. The question of how Peter is so far advanced academically is also a question for how he can help on such a wide range of topics. I want the same answer as you. So, if you want to proceed, let’s get moving.” 

Nothing on Earth could have stopped the two school professionals from going. 

The first lab they stopped at was a Chemistry lab headed by Dr, Guthrie, another of the SI staff on a short list for a Nobel. Pepper literally stormed into the lab. All worked ceased as everyone stared dumbfound at the CEO. Dr Guthrie swept around the table in the center of the room. “Ms. Potts, it’s an honor to have you down here. I don’t think you have every been to our lab before. How can I be of assistance?” 

Pepper reached her hand back and was rewarded with several sheets of paper thrust into her hand by the head of the interns. “You can be of assistance by telling me how you are using a HIGH SCHOOL INTERN in all these projects?” She laid the papers down one at a time, more like a prosecutor would display the evidence in a trial. “You can attempt to justify to me, the use of your time in teaching him, which must be quite a bit of time, to get him up to speed on these projects. And for what end?” 

Dr. Guthrie took a step back. “Peter, this is about Peter?” 

“Yes, this is about Peter! You know,” as she glanced around the room, “the only one that is NOT working on at least their master’s degree or higher at the moment!” 

Dr. Guthrie and everyone in the room visibly blanched at the tone of her voice. 

“Well?” she demanded. 

Dr. Guthrie found his voice. “You don’t understand.” 

“Then make me understand.” 

“We don’t have to teach Peter; he comes up with it on his own. His first time down here he was a prototypical student, hands behind his back, unwilling to touch anything. The next week, he showed up with a list of questions that took some of our staff research, to answer. The next week he was answering questions from the students. Now, as often as not, we are changing our project slightly because of his ideas or suggestions. He has yet to be in error, and several of the ideas he has had would save several steps in the formulation process, thus saving time and money.” 

Ms. Williams spoke up, “I came across a reference for a sulfide salt bath to strip positive ions out of a solution. Is this an example of something you’ve worked with?” 

“Yes, exactly! That is one of the shortcuts that Peter came up with to eliminate a high ionic percentage in our samples. We had been stumped before his help with our purification process.” 

Ms. Williams looked even more confused, “He came to you with that? But where did he get it? A high schooler doesn’t come up with these ideas?” 

“You don’t understand,” came the exasperated reply, “Peter is the most intuitive intellect I have ever met. Yes, and that includes Tony Stark. He wants to understand everything. He is the fastest learner I have ever seen.” 

“But a high schooler?” came the reply. 

“Yes, a high schooler,” came the indignant reply from Dr. Guthrie, “Peter is a high schooler. Yes, he is young. But he is a genius, no matter the age. We cannot, I cannot, do anything to restrict the flow of information to him. I have a moral obligation as a teacher myself, that when I find someone of such ability, I have to do everything in my power to expand their horizons. I can do nothing less.” 

The next twenty minutes was spent with the junior staff sharing stories of how Peter had helped them. A video of Peter participating in a brainstorm session and throwing out idea after idea, most of which were adapted. 

The group left the Chemistry lab and proceeded to the labs for Physics, Electrical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Biology. In each case they heard the same story: how Peter had been invaluable to the department. 

When they met again in the same conference room, they started in earlier that morning, it was a somber group of people. Pepper started, “I’m so sorry this has gotten out of hand. Obviously, we do not have protections in place to safeguard the time that Peter spends here.” 

The head of the interns spoke up for the first time today, “We have never had anyone around here like Peter, except for maybe Tony Stark himself. In our competitive atmosphere, everyone wants every advantage they can get.” 

Ms. Williams spoke next, “Obviously, the work here challenges him more than our school could ever do.” 

“Obviously,” said Principal Morita, “we a legally obligated to have Peter continue in school, but just as obvious is the lack of any education we could provide him in any of the fields we have seen today. Looking at what is best for Mr. Parker is more than we can decide, his family needs to be involved.” 

Pepper Potts nodded her head. “That is something I can arrange. I will be meeting with Tony later today and I will arrange a meeting with his Aunt for as soon as possible. I take it you would like to be there also?” 

Morita nodded, “If only to help in the planning process, we may be able to provide some resources.” 

Pepper stood up, showing the end of the meeting. “Then I will arrange it. I will be talking to all of you soon. Thank you for coming in and making me aware of this situation.” 

As the head intern led the Midtown people out, Pepper sat back down. A morning full of revelation swept over her. Finally, she glanced up to the ceiling. “FRIDAY, I hope you got all that. I want it condensed down and ready when I hit Tony over the head with it in a few minutes.” Then she paused, and more to herself said, “Dealing with one Tony Stark isn’t enough? There must be another.” A sigh, “ At least with Peter we have the chance to make a better version!” 


	6. Pepper & Tony

Tony Stark was a man of impulse. Some of his best ideas came when he was exhausted, trapped, wounded, or otherwise outside of what a normal person would call routine. Only a few people had ever seen this side of him, since he rarely let people get that close. Oh, he was famous for his dalliances, but most of those people never even woke up with Tony still in the same building, and sometimes he was in a different country by then.

Only three people, well now four with Peter, ever saw that side of Tony. They were Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy. Even Peter hadn’t seen the terrible swings that Tony had gone through, mostly because of alcohol. He had cut way back once Peter had been around. 

Tony thought he was in a good place. No terrible news reporting on him, or the Avengers. No disasters, or calamities in the recent past. Lab time was both relaxing and productive, as Peter was actually becoming a resource to bounce ideas off of. Life was looking up. 

The door to the lab slammed open. 

“Tony! What the HELL do you think you’re doing?” yelled Pepper. 

“Umm, reattaching the sub-harmonic relay in my left gauntlet?” answered Tony. 

“Not that,” said an obviously exasperated Pepper, “I want to know what you are doing with Peter Parker?” 

“Pete? What wrong with Pete?” 

Pepper dropped several folders, each several inches thick, on Tony’s lab table. “For your information, and known to almost everyone but you and I, Peter probably has more projects going on at SI right now than you do. In more areas of research, with more staff, and is probably involved on almost S-E-V-E-N-T-Y P-E-R-C-E-N-T (she annunciated that part very slowly) of the research going on in this building at this time.” 

“You’re kidding. He’s my intern, he helps out in the lab with me. No one else even knows he’s here.” 

“Not even close.” Pepper actually grimaced at Tony. “It seems that he is a local favorite. Your Nobel Laureates compete for his services. There is hardly anyone in any lab other than this one that doesn’t beg for him to come collaborate with them.” 

Tony shook his head, “No, see that’s impossible, the kid only works with me here.” 

“Friday, please display the graph of the hours Peter spends here in Tony’s lab versus other parts of R&D.” 

A holographic image in a pie chart along with the associated raw data showed up in front of Tony and Pepper. The chart obviously showed a smaller slice of the pie was being allocated to Tony and his lab. 

Tony actually sputtered, “No, this can’t be right. Some of those dates I wasn’t even here. Fri, how could Peter have been here if I wasn’t here?” 

Friday responded, “Mr. Parker was given full access by you to all the labs, sir. When you are not here, if he is following safety protocols, he is allowed to work on any project.” 

Tony was rapidly sifting through the stacks of lab reports. “No, no, no. This can’t be right. There are projects all over the board. Electronics, engineering, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, no, the Kid helps me out here, with his suit, and sometimes with the Avengers gear. This can’t be right.” Tony was shaking his head. “Bruce and I found a bunch of projects that he’s working on, but these are completely different from those. You’re talking literally hundreds of different research projects. There is no way. I can’t even keep up with every single project that everyone is working one, let alone contribute.” 

“Oh, it is. I’ve talked to all the lab directors involved. I’ve threatened most of them with firings. They have all taken advantage of a teenager. But to a person, they all admit they would do it again. They have all learned how smart Peter is, and they would move Heaven and Earth to utilize his brain. I think you need to review his work, talk to the Lab Directors, and figure out just how smart Peter is. And you better do it quick. His school was in today, that’s how we found this all out. It seems your high school intern is regularly doing Graduate and Post Graduate level work over several disciplines. We are going to meet with them tomorrow to discuss Peter’s future. I suggest you get up to speed.” With that, Pepper turned and left the lab, leaving the paperwork in front of a stunned Tony Stark. 

Tony stared at the quickly receding back of his on again-off again fiancé, then he stared at the pile of papers in front of him. Slowly, he slumped into a chair. “Fri, see if Bruce is available to come down here.” 

When Bruce entered the lab fifteen minutes later, he saw no less than fifty large holographic screens up and running. A quick glance at what was on them gave no clue to what the project Tony needed his help with. Chemistry equations were on the first screen and engineering the second, others had references to projects Bruce knew were being developed downstairs. He turned to Tony, who was comparing notes on paper, (something he NEVER did) to the notes on the screens. “Hey Tony, what’s up?” 

“Bruce, thank God. I need your help,” Tony said, exasperated. 

“With which project? It looks like you’re working on dozens,” Bruce replied. 

“With all of them, and they’re not my projects. They’re Peter’s projects. Or projects he’s involved in, or collaborating with Nobel Laureates or other PhD’s. You know how we were talking the other day how smart Peter was and how we should test him?” 

“Yeah, I remember.” 

“I am starting to think there might not be a test hard enough to test him. Most of the stuff here in my field is great, and advanced, but there are more fields here that I have to acknowledge are beyond me, and he’s only in high school.” 

“I can see that, these Bio Chem equations are Graduate level derivations. You’re saying this is all his work? How is that possible?” 

“It seems my lack of oversight was filled in by unscrupulous Lab Directors that were eager to tap his brain. Once they realized how smart he was, which the fact that I was so slow leaves me kicking myself figuratively and Pepper is doing literally, they have been introducing him to all aspects of what SI is working on,” Tony said with a sigh. 

“But he’s a teenager, in high school. Why would they, how would they even expect him to, no, that’s too incredible!” 

“Incredible yes, Impossible, no. I’ve talked to one of the Lab Directors, who told me the same thing that I already know, everyone, and I mean everyone, loves Peter. He personally stated that Peter has saved them months in product development and probably millions of dollars in cost and time.” 

“Okay, I can see that. But what do you need me for?” 

“Peter’s school is coming tomorrow, and I have to explain all this,” Tony said with a sweeping gesture around the room. “I have to have a plan for his education, and what we’re going to do to help. Buddy, I need your help, I am going beyond my comfort zone, we need to think of something.” Tony settled back into a chair, with a slightly wild look of utter desperation, yet with utter determination. The two scientists/friends/Avengers got to work.

Eight o’clock the next morning found Tony and Pepper inside the apartment of Peter and May Parker. Peter was, fortunately, at school at that time. They were there to explain the recent events and invite May to a meeting later that day with the school staff and other interested parties. May started out understanding that her nephew was smart, and probably a genius. When Tony was trying to explain that Peter was probably just as smart as himself in engineering, and as smart as Bruce Banner in Bio Chem, and smarter than whole roomfuls of PhD graduates, May took on a look of incredulity. Pepper had to step in and say, yes, Peter was in fact working with distinguished Doctors in several fields and had impressed, even astounded them all. Pepper, who actually had the better rapport with May, laid out the groundwork of what they wanted to do. 

At four p.m. that same day, Tony and Pepper once again welcomed Mrs. Williams and Principal Morita into SI. This time the conference room they were led to was fuller. Both school people were acquainted with May Parker, who was sitting at one end of the table. The introductions around the table was like a veritable Who’s Who for the science world. Dr. Bruce Banner, Dr. Thomas Boyer from MIT, Dr. Stephen Tanksley from Harvard, and four more doctors from SI, all with names that were recognizable. The Professors from MIT and Harvard showed how much clout that the name Tony Stark carried. 

Everyone by this time had been made aware of the enormous volume of work that Peter had been performing, all of it well past a normal high school student. Bruce and Tony had previously laid out, along with the Lab Directors, exactly what Peter had been working on to the Professors from the universities. This included video that Friday had collected of Peter collaborating with Lab scientists. This covered a good part of the morning. The work itself was enough in normal cases to award an advanced degree in one or more fields. More than once in history had people received degrees for advanced work in a field of study. The more that was described, the more interested everyone had gotten. This was almost humorously shown by the fact that MIT and Harvard were actually competing to see who would offer the best education package to Peter. 

May, and surprisingly Tony, were adamant that Peter finish his high school, and be a “normal” kid for as long as possible. (None of the people besides Pepper, Tony. Bruce, and May were aware just exactly how un-normal Peter was.) Starting immediately, with Peter’s approval, would be a multi-pronged educational program designed to catch up on anything skipped over in Peter’s education and to accelerate his education in others. By the time Peter graduated High School, he would earn at least a Bachelor’s in Engineering and Chemistry from MIT and a Bachelor’s in Business from Harvard. 

Everyone involved agreed to NDA’s for the safety of a minor, as well as any potential danger if anyone found out everything that Peter was involved in. Mrs. Williams and Principal Morita walked away from SI with a sense of awe. 

“It was only yesterday that we brought this to the attention of Pepper Potts,” Mrs. Williams said as they shared a taxi back to Midtown. 

“Twenty fours hours in her hands or Tony Stark’s is not the same as other people I believe. Besides, did you see the rings under Tony’s eyes? He couldn’t have gotten any sleep and look like that. Dr. Banner’s eyes were just as ringed. Ms. Potts looked fine however,” replied Principal Morita. 

“Ha!” laughed Mrs. Williams. “There is a woman that could probably spend a week straight up working and still look she just came out of a spa.” 

“So, do you feel better about your student now?” asked the principal. 

“Well, he's not really my student anymore. His class time will be filled with course work from two universities instead of high school chemistry. But I feel better about him being challenged, if anything truly could challenge the boy. I just feel lucky to be able to see and know him before he changes the world, which I firmly believe he will.” 


	7. Tony talks to Peter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony has a heart to heart with Peter.

Peter had a pretty good day. Flash was absent from school, that made the day great all by itself. He was able to make another batch of web fluid in chemistry class. And swinging around Queens after school was fantastic, which meant no major injuries and quite a bit less crime. 

As Peter entered SI for a night of brainstorming with the one and only Tony Stark, he was conscious first of all the voices coming from the penthouse area. Enhanced hearing had its uses. He could detect more voices than normal, even with the Avengers there. 

He quickly changed out of his suit and into his street clothes. Slipping out of his room, he made his way toward the common area. There he saw several people he did not know, and many more that he did. Some of the Avengers were there, specifically Captain America and Bucky Barnes. Tony and Pepper and, surprisingly, Aunt May. He recognized several Lab Directors from downstairs. Most surprising was his Chemistry teacher and Principal Morita. The last couple of people he had never seen before. 

As he stepped into the open, all conversation quickly stopped, and everyone turned to face him. Peter’s Spider-Sense didn’t go off, but the natural reaction caused him to come to a sudden stop. Tony was of course the first to recover. “Pete, my boy. We have to talk,” Tony said with a big grin. 

“What is this, an intervention?” Peter asked. “Does this have anything to do with-”

“No! Nope, no,” Interrupted Tony. “We’re here to talk about your school.” 

“My school?” he said with a confused look on his face. Several of the people there were nodding their heads. Principal Morita had a large silly grin, his Aunt and Pepper were dabbing tears. “I don’t understand,” Peter said. 

“Well, that’s a first,” said Tony, which somehow elicited a laugh from everyone involved. 

Tony looked around at everyone in the room, and back to Peter. “Kid, lets you and me go down to the lab. I think this may be easier without all the distraction.” Tony walked over to Peter and, placing a hand on his shoulder, starting guiding Peter out of the room. 

Tony chatted about small things, projects they were working on, the latest screwup from Dum-E, and how Tony wanted mor lab time, like always. Tony guided Peter to one of the chairs and hopped up on one of the tables across from Peter. 

“Kid, I gotta tell you, this has been a couple of crazy days,” started Tony. 

“Did I do something wrong? Am I in trouble?” questioned Pete. 

“Not at all, really,” answered Tony. “I guess I’m the one who has to apologize. I didn’t realize how much you were doing around here, working with all the labs, helping out on way too many different projects. It came to a head the other day when you teacher noted you were way to advanced.” Tony actually smiled. “Good teacher, that one. It takes someone special to notice the special in others. Anyway, that got the ball rolling. Pepper put together all the projects you were working on downstairs, Bruce and I looked at the projects you have been working on upstairs, nice work on Barnes’ prosthetic by the way. That mesh was very inventive.” Tony paused and took a deep breath. 

Peter’s eyes were the size of saucers, not sure what was coming. 

Tony continued, “What I’m trying to say is that you have blown everyone, including me, away. You’re working on stuff that should be way past your education, but it isn’t. You have shown an aptitude in so many areas of science, and so quickly, that no one, not the Lab Directors, your teachers, heck, even me, can keep up with you.” 

Peter stammered, “What’s going to happen, they’re not going to kick me out of school are they?” 

“Quite the opposite. Do you remember that Star Trek show where Nedley, or Wesley or someone got made an acting Ensign with a heavy dose of study?” 

“Yes, that was Wesley Crusher, on Next Generation.” 

“Of course it was. Well, you’re about to get the same treatment. You have outgrown most of you classes. In those areas and others as we decide, you are going to get advanced training, while still at Midtown. Since you have shown a complete inability to pay attention in those classes, you will be reviewing material for your advanced classes during those times. You will take proctored tests at the same time the rest of the class takes their normal tests.“ 

Tony took another deep breath, “Your work here, with a few exceptions like working on your suit and other Avengers gear, will be closely monitored, similarly to the other interns for class credit in whatever area it involves. You will also be more involved, if that’s possible, in the write-ups that go along with completion of each project.” 

“But May won’t let me take courses other than my normal school,” Peter protested. 

“Nope, your scary Aunt has signed off on all of this, with her usual demands. This time, I totally agreed with each and every one. Remember, I was sent off to school at fourteen. I know what the social isolation is like. If I didn’t have Rhodey back then, well, I don’t really want to think about that,” Tony was shaking his head. “You are going to be getting college credits for this. How many, we still aren’t sure. But you could be way ahead of the curve. I’m proud of you.” 

If Peter was surprised at anything that Tony had said, nothing surprised him as much as when Tony pulled him into a big hug. 

“I don’t have to go away? And May is okay with this?” Peter asked. 

“One hundred percent, which frankly, surprised the heck out of me. Just when I think I can figure her out, she throws me another curve ball.” 

“But…Spider-Man, I will be able to continue patrolling Queens, right?” 

“Yes, your Aunt agreed to that to, she know how much it means to you. Once again, she surprised me, but not to the degree that I think she loves you. She, and the rest of us, would do anything for you, you know that don’t you Pete?” Tony said, with more than a hint of emotion in his voice. “Now before this gets any more maudlin, let’s go upstairs. I’m sure by now the Chinese, and Thai, and Pizzas have arrived.” 

Peter looked up at Tony. 

“Hey, we couldn’t agree, so I ordered all three! Let’s have a party! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it. Hopefully our little genius prospers from here. Thank you all for bearing with me. I hope you enjoyed it.


	8. Bonus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One more idea from the mind of Tony Stark.

Several hours later, Tony escorted the professors from Harvard and MIT out to the transportation he had arranged for them.

“Friday, the lobby please.” and Tony turned his attention to the two scholars. “Gentlemen, I want to thank you for all you have done for Peter, and me. I do want to make you aware of something else. I have two others you might want to take a look at. One is the only person to have successfully hacked into my system, and he is a sophomore. The other, well she is the captain of their National Champion Decathlon team, and frankly, besides Pepper, and the Gamma induced Rage Monster upstairs, is the only person that scares me. I think it would be wise if you looked at them, if only to channel their gifts along the best path.” 

The elevator had opened and Tony was escorting them across the lobby. 

Both men looked awestruck. More? After spending time with Peter this evening, they were both amazed and delighted by his intellect. The mere acceptance of another genius on par with Tony Stark or Bruce Banner was going to a wonderful recruiting tool for both of the universities. The fact that there might even be more geniuses available would be incredible. 

Tony continued, “In fact, both of these kids are close friends to Peter. I’ll have my staff develop some information on them for you. I hope we can work something out.” 

Tony opened the front door and led them to their waiting limo. As he opened the door he said, “By the way, their names are Ned Leeds and Michelle Jones, two more names I think that will become famous.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's REALLY all folks. I hope you enjoyed.


End file.
